When Max Kpakio applied in his own name for the job in Swansea he was turned down
Virgin Atlantic was today accused of racism after allegedly rejecting a job application from an African refugee, but accepting him when he applied with a British name.
Max Kpakio was turned down for a call centre job - and when he suspected his foreign-sounding name was at fault, he re-submitted his application under the name Craig Owen.
He claims the enthusiastic response the second application received proves that his initial rejection was based solely on racial discrimination, and is taking the airline to an employment tribunal.
When his application to work at a Virgin call centre in Swansea was rejected, he was convinced it was due to his African name.
Max Kpakio reapplied under the traditionally British name of Craig Owen
Not only was he invited for interview when he applied as Craig Owen, but the company repeatedly contacted him encouraging his application - even though it was nothing more than a simplified version of his genuine CV.After he failed to respond to their initial email, they sent a string of messages saying how much they were looking forward to meeting him.
It occurred to me that my ethnic origin may have something to do with the rejection. I then decided to make a further application to Virgin, using the name Craig Owen.
They were in touch with me seven or eight times, and kept coming back to me when I didn't respond. Now I have made an application to the employment tribunal alleging racial discrimination.
Mr Kpakio was born in Liberia but moved with his three children to Swansea in 2002 to escape civil war.
He has since been granted British citizenship and earned a degree in International Relations at Swansea University.
After finding himself out of work he went along to a staff recruitment presentation with Virgin Atlantic's call centre in Swansea.
His case for alleged racial discrimination is due to be heard by an employment tribunal in April.
A spokeswoman for Virgin Atlantic said:
"We are an equal opportunities employer.''
''We pride ourselves on providing opportunities to talented people regardless of their race, sex, age or other characteristic.''
''We take allegations of discrimination extremely seriously. Whilst we do not comment on individual cases, we strongly deny any of our recruitment decisions or practices are discriminatory in any way.''
